A damping strut of this type that may function as part of a vehicle suspension's load bearing structure is disclosed in the publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,060. The load bearing assembly is responsible for proper guiding, side load transfer and damper heat transfer and dissipation, while ensuring as low friction as possible and to this end a quantity of oil is carried between a damper body tube and a bearing sleeve thereby providing lubrication between annular bearings and the damper body tube.
Typically, Teflon ® coated bronze bearings on a steel substrate, also called DU bushings, are employed as annular bearings and are press fit into a machined steel bearing sleeve which increases the weight of the bearing assembly. The bearing sleeve in turn is inserted into a housing tube and the latter is crimped inside at a few points over its perimeter to secure the bearing sleeve in place. Unfortunately, this crimping process may cause the bearing sleeve to deflect and thus increase friction between the annular bearings and the damper body tube. Also, the DU bushings create an unpleasant noise as the damper body tube moves in the strut which is audible even in the passenger compartment.
An object of the present invention is to provide a damping strut devoid of the aforementioned drawbacks and featuring: reduced production costs and reduced total weight of the strut; exclusion of the possibility of a deflection of the bearing sleeve during damper assembly that could adversely increase friction; improved heat dissipation; reduced risk of misassembly and problems with tolerances stack-up between assembled components; and reduced noise generated during strut operation.